<Begin Segment 1>

BY: Today is March 7, 2023. I am Barbara Yasui, and I am interviewing Sharon Maeda in the Densho studio located in Seattle, Washington, and our videographer is Dana Hoshide. So I'm going to start with just some background information. What is your full name?

SM: Sharon Rae Maeda.

BY: Okay. And when and where were you born?

SM: In 1945 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

BY: And what generation are you?

SM: Sansei.

BY: Okay. So can you tell me briefly about your grandparents? Where in Japan they came from, when they came, approximately or exactly when they came to the U.S., and what they did and where they lived. So let's start with your, let's see, it would be your maternal grandfather, Yasuta Kageyama?

SM: Grandpa Kage -- we always just said "Kage," we didn't say Kageyama -- came from Yokohama and we lost track many decades ago of that part of the family. He came to work on the railroads like many other Issei, as a young man, and ended up settling in Oregon.

BY: And how about your maternal grandmother, Ichino Bichu?

SM: She came from the Osaka-Kobe area. And we kept in touch and we still are in touch with that part of the family. They mostly live in Osaka now.

BY: And how did she end up in Hood River?

SM: Well, this is an interesting story. She was the oldest of three daughters, and so to give their oldest daughter a chance for a better life, they had her in an arranged marriage with Grandpa. But the irony is her two younger sisters, after World War II, ended up marrying medical doctors and they ended up being very wealthy and led quite a charmed life, and Grandma toiled on the farm in Oregon until she was in her early nineties.

BY: How about your paternal grandfather, Rikichi Maeda?

SM: He came from Yanai, which is way, way, way to the edge of the island. And he was, I don't know exactly where he was raised, that's where his family's from. But he was orphaned at the age of eight, and he was raised by the Methodist missionaries. And he came over doing the same work on the railroads, but he ended up in Portland.

BY: And what about your paternal grandmother Yoshiko Bitow?

SM: She was from Hiroshima, and she was the daughter and granddaughter of generals who ran Hiroshima castle for the emperor. And so she ended up being married off to someone who spoke English and was a Christian because her father could see that the Meiji era was ending, and he thought this was a way to maintain some level of, I guess, status or power.

BY: Interesting.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.